Violence Rising Among Young Gang Members
Immaturity Blocks Understanding of Actions and Consequences, Police and Social Workers Say
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
Twice this year, police say, Montgomery County teens as young as 14 took part in gang-related attacks that left one man dead of a stab wound to his heart and one dead with a stab wound to his head.
"We're seeing the level of violence get younger and younger," said Montgomery police Sgt. Chuck Welch, head of the county's gang unit, describing the array of cases he has worked on in the past year.
Many young gang members share this much with other teenagers: They're not mature enough to fully grasp the relationship between action and consequence, police and social workers say. Instead of skipping class and failing geometry, though, they are taking part in crimes that turn fatal and facing decades in prison.
"They don't have the reasoning abilities of an adult," Welch said.
In terms of overall crime in the county, gang members commit a relatively small slice -- less than 2 percent, police estimate -- and young gang members commit less still.
But their deepening capacity for violence is cause for worry, Welch said. It indicates that teenagers increasingly are heeding gang leaders' promises of status, protection and being part of a family.
"They're starting to buy into that whole mythology," Welch said.
Police have identified 1,207 gang members in Montgomery and 33 active gangs.
To try to steer young people from gangs, Welch and others work with groups such as Gaithersburg-based Identity Inc., which helps Hispanic youths. Identity provides after-school programs at nine county schools; helps organize backpacking trips and kayaking lessons; and is the lead agency of the Crossroads Youth Opportunity Center, in Takoma Park, which offers social-skills building, tattoo removal and mental health services.
On Monday, three young men working at Identity's headquarters for the summer offered reasons why they think other youths are drawn to gangs.
Oscar Lemus, 20, said kids see gangs portrayed in movies and begin imitating the characters. That can lead to verbal confrontations, which can erupt in fights and ignite ever-escalating violence.
"The problems never stop," added Sergio Reyes, 20.
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